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French town is a surprising centre of art and architecture

Nancy, in France’s Lorraine province, has a proliferation of Art Nouveau buildings

Nancy's Arc de Triomphe links Place Stanislas with its Old Town.

Photograph by: Barbara Selwitz photo

There are two special reasons to visit Nancy, capital of France’s Lorraine province: Place Stanislas, one of Europe’s great public spaces, created by a usurped Polish king; and an amazing proliferation of Art Nouveau buildings and design, the result of the movement having bloomed here during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Home to 410,000 people, Nancy is easily reachable via TGV trains that speed here from Paris in just an hour and 40 minutes. The city also offers fine museums, excellent dining, and a sizable historic area where visitors feel they’ve strolled back in time.

But it’s Nancy’s incredible central square, and extraordinary Art Nouveau trove that’s the city’s prime draw. Particularly for those also visiting adjacent Alsace, a few days in Nancy makes an ideal addition.

Elegant and spacious Place Stanislas features gold festooned gates, stately public buildings, comfortable cafés, and a statue of the beloved Stanislas Leszczynski, an 18th century father-in-law of King Louis XV of France.

Louis was quite fond of Stanislas. And when, in 1733, he was blocked from returning to Poland’s throne (he had earlier served an elected term as king), Louis saw Stanislas’ situation as a solution to a seemingly unrelated goal — strengthening the ties of Lorraine to France.

Though physically part of France for centuries, Lorraine had politically been a free city within the Holy Roman Empire until 1681.

That’s why, along with wanting to give his father-in-law an appropriate post, Louis offered him the Lorraine Dukedom. Since Stanislas was then in his sixties, and had agreed Lorraine would permanently be joined with France after his death, Louis reasonably assumed Lorraine would soon be firmly under French control.

Stanislas, however, lived to be 89, ruling Lorraine until his death in 1766. His progressive rule made him beloved by his subjects. The 124-by-106 metre square in his name — created between 1752 and 1755 — converted a former open area between Nancy’s medieval quarter and a newly built district into the fabulous space you see today. Its appeal became even greater in 2005 when motor vehicles were banned.

You can easily spend hours here, perusing the ducal palace, Arc de Triomphe and City Hall, visiting the Museum of Fine Arts, or dining at an outdoor café. Also prominent are Nancy’s opera house, and stately, gold-gilded iron gates at each corner of the square plus two amazing fountains. Elegant and truly grand Place Stanislas is a protected UNESCO world heritage site.

To reach the heart of Nancy’s “older” old town, pass through the Arc de Triompe and Place de la Carriere on the other side, and soon you’ll encounter streets quite reminiscent of Paris’ Marais district. Don’t miss the Musee Lorraine, occupying a former Franciscan monastery, and its impressive archaeological and medieval collections, plus rooms that replicate interiors of 19th century rural homes.

Art Nouveau — the movement, which peaked before and after the turn of the 20th century — followed the idea that art should be everywhere, not just in formal settings. Fabric, jewelry, ceramics, furniture, stained glass and architecture reflect this egalitarian concept.

For a compact and fascinating summary of Nancy’s Art Nouveau years, a visit to the Musee de l’Ecole de Nancy is a must. This museum, with over 750 items, occupies the former home and garden of patron and art collector Eugene Corbin (1867-1952). Works of Emile Galle, Eugene Vallin, Louis Majorelle and other movement leaders, including beds, furniture, tables, and cabinets, comprise an amazing collection that shows off the diversity of Art Nouveau.

But so many more works can be found just wandering Nancy’s streets and avenues. A great way to find them is following itineraries laid out in to an Art Nouveau itinerary brochure, free at Nancy’s Place Stanislas tourist information centre.

You can easily follow routes to such intriguing sites as the extraordinary glass roof of the Credit Lyonnais bank built in 1901, interior decorations at the Gingko Pharmacy by Majorelle, and by all means, dine at, or at least drop into the Brassiere Excelsior, the 102-year-old restaurant festooned with stunning stained glass, chandeliers, sculptures, furnishings and soaring arches.

There are also plenty of fabulous Art Nouveau works at the Musee de Beaux Arts on Place Stanislas. Highlights include extraordinary vases, and the collection of hundreds of pieces of Art Nouveau Daum glass in the basement, cleverly displayed amid the structure’s medieval foundations.

Nancy is a compact, sophisticated city that deserves to be much better known. If your travels bring you to France, time spent here exploring Nancy’s special architecture and art should certainly prove to be time well spent.

If You Go

Park Inn by Radisson Nancy — Directly across from the railway station, this comfortable property is convenient to Place Stanislas and Art Nouveau favourites. parkinn.com

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